Glinka

Michail Ivanoviteh, comm. b. Novospaskoi, near Smolensk, June 1, 1804; d. Berlin, Feb. 15. 1857. During early years on fathers country estate showed great sensitivene toward mus.; while at school in St. Petersburg 1817-22 took pf. le ons from John Field and C. Meyer and vln. from Bohm; 1824-28 held gov't position; composed in amateurish way; 1828-33 living in Italy for health; admired works of Bellini and Donizetti; 1833 went to Berlin where Dehn gave him first real instruction in theory; on return to Ru ia 1834 set to work on long nourished plan of writing national opera; result Life for the Czar performed 1836 with great succe ; second opera Ru ian and Ludmilla 1842, not quite so succe ful; 1844 in Paris met Berlioz who admired his works; after trip to Spain returned to St. Petersburg, where he turned attention to old church modes; died when on visit to Dehn. Pioneer of modern Ru ian music he established Ru ian opera upon basis of supremacy of voice, and, though he used teitmotiven before Wagner, he kept them in voice parts only; he first used Ru ian folk-songs, but he used them more as an imitator than as a copyist; he gained effect of local color by using melancholy progre ions, rhythms of 5 and 7 beats, etc his orchestration was simple, but vigorous and rich. GLUCK